Bandai Entertainment confirmed on Monday it will release the fourth Blu-ray Disc volume of its Gundam Unicorn series in North America on December 2, the same day it will go on general sale in Japan. (Advance sales at theatrical screenings will begin in Japan on November 12.)

The Blu-ray will have a pre-sale price of US$39.98 and a street-date price of US$44.99 at the Bandai Entertainment Store. The disc will retail for US$59.98. The Blu-ray will also be available from Amazon.com and "other select online retailers."

The newest volume will also be available for digital rental via the PLAYSTATION Network in the United States and Canada and for the Zune platform in the United States, Canada, and Mexico.

Gundam Unicorn Volume 4 will include both Japanese and English language tracks as well as subtitles in Japanese, English, French, Spanish, traditional Mandarin, and traditional Chinese.

Mobile Suit Gundam UC Episode 4 Trailer #2

The official Twitter account for the Mobile Suit Gundam UC video anime series announced on Saturday that voice actor Ken Narita will assume the role of Bright Noa in the anime. Bandai Visual held a Saturday screening and live event for the fourth Gundam UC episode, which marked the first anime appearance of Bright Noa in 23 years. Hirotaka Suzuoki, the original voice of the character, passed away in 2006.

Bright Noa served as the commanding officer for the first three Gundam pilots in the robot anime franchise: Amuro Ray (first Gundam series), Kamille Bidan (Zeta Gundam), and Judau Ashta (Gundam ZZ). Bright Noa later appeared in the 1988 film Mobile Suit Gundam: Char's Counterattack, but has not appeared in other anime projects until now. Bright Noa does appear in the novel Kidō Senshi Gundam: Senkō no Hathaway (Mobile Suit Gundam: Flash's Hathaway) by original Gundam creator Yoshiyuki Tomino, and he also appears in the Gundam UC novels that inspired the anime.

The anime's website announced that the new musical act earthmind is performing the fourth episode's theme song "B-Bird." It also began streaming the latest promotional video for the anime, although the video is limited to users with Japanese Internet Protocol addresses.

The Gundam Visa card, a collaboration between Sumitomo Mitsui Visa and Mobile Suit Gundam, mark Mobile Suit Gundam UC episode 4: At the Bottom of the Gravity Well with a new promotion beginning October 10th.

During the promotion, members who use more than ¥20,000 worth of iD will be entered to win one of sixteen Mobile Suit Gundam UC prizes.

This promotion is available to new as well as current cardholders, so take this chance to sign up!

■ Second Gundam UC x Gundam Visa Card promotion

[Period]
October 1st - December 31st, 2011

[Eligibility]
Gundam Visa cardholder on or before December 15th

[Requirements]
Spend at least ¥20,000 of iD between October 1st and December 31st, 2011

[Prizes]
Sixteen Mobile Suit Gundam UC prizes are available!

Mobile Suit Gundam UC episode 4: At the Bottom of the Gravity Well Blu-ray (1)

When I was writing this SD Gundam 00 Seven Sword/G review for gginfinitenews.com, I tried to remember the last time I built a SD kit. It would have been well over a decade ago, maybe even as long as 15 years. What did I remember about them? Well, they were incredibly easy to build, even more so than NG/HG kits, and had a lot of stickers. After so many years not much has changed. What has changed though is my prospective on the SD kits...

The SD 007S/G is incredibly easy to build and was able to complete the kit while half paying attention to last week's CSI. Bandai designed the kit in such a way that you can actually pull the pieces out from the runner instead of using cutters or a hobby knife. The traditional 'nub' we've grown to love and hate over the years doesn't exist. I didn't understand why until I noticed a section in the guide indicating that the pieces can just pop right out.

In my reviews I try to present the kit as how a proper straight build would look, aka nothing more than some simple nub removal and whatever main stickers are required to 'finish' the kit. Since this snap out method is new to me I figured I'd give it a shot. The results, for better or worse, you can see in the photos. All this, though, wraps back to my thoughts regarding SD kits. In my opinion they are both the easiest kits to build, and the hardest.

Perhaps I should explain? SD kits appeal to a very young modeling base. They're cute, adorable, and very easy to build. No sharp instruments are required, no precision piece fitting. They're suitable for any age, granted your youngin' doesn't like to eat small things. Stickers are easy to apply and most kits aren't too concerned with fine details. Yet, to achieve those details, that requires a lot of talent.

The SD 007S/G doesn't consist of a lot of different pieces. Where a HG or MG kit would feature additional pieces molded in different colors at most you're offered a set of stickers to help the kit's appearance. Honestly, I think they look like rubbish. While in a lot of areas Bandai's sticker methodology has improved, using them to cover large areas, especially when they butt up against each other isn't practical or pretty. To achieve the same color separation and produce an amazing SD kit one is either going to need to tackle the guy with a slue of hand brushed details, immense masking & spraying, or a combination of the two. There are a few folks out there who consistently produce amazing SD kits and their work and skill should never be understated.

Thus my main conclusion with regards to SD kits simple, young or old, they're an unexpected challenge.
Wait, shouldn't my conclusion come at the end of my review? Perhaps after all of the pictures and commentary on the kit itself? Guess I should spout off some info about the kit itself!

The SD 007S/G is built off the previously released SD Gundam 00 Raiser so you will find some residual pieces left unused on the runners after completion. The kit's stoud nature and solid design means that it's quite posable in ways the HG or MG isn't (namely, it doesn't have a problem standing up!) Unfortunately it lacks elbow or knee joints like many SD kits. The GN engines, like the rest of the kit, are sturdy and stay in place thanks to some nicely snug poly cap joints. The waist armor, though a solid unit, is independent of the hips and torso which I thought was a nice touch.

As one would expect the kit comes with the seven sword armament (though, including the beam sabers, I think there are actually eight?). Of all of this kit's components the weapons feature the least amount of color separation. Green metallic stickers make up several of the blades and the largest sword's blue is allllll sticker. I look forward to seeing someone in the community give this kit all of the paint it deserves.